During April 2025, the work of the psychological online support group for wives and mothers of military personnel "Warm Circle of Support" from the Department of Psychology and the Center for Psychological Resilience of the Gorlovka Institute of Foreign Languages (Dnipro)* continued. The leader of the support group, Associate Professor of the Department of Psychology of the GIIM N.G. Kosheleva, held 4 weekly meetings with women from military families. The group's work was aimed at communication and exchange of experiences between participants on topics related to the fact that a loved one is at the front; mutual support in a safe space; improving the psycho-emotional state and restoring the resources of the participants; mastering practical self-help tools for better well-being.

During the meetings, the participants had the opportunity to receive important information regarding: improving their own resource status; methods of self-regulation, emotional stabilization and recovery after stressful and crisis situations; maintaining a balance between thoughts, emotions and behavior; features of post-combat emotional reactions and behavioral manifestations in the military and the impact of war on family relationships; specifics of communication and interaction between family members and the military; preserving and strengthening their own resourcefulness and supporting themselves and their loved ones who are at the front, etc. In the group interactive format, a significant number of psychotechniques were worked out for emotional stabilization, relaxation, grounding, resources and support, connection of thoughts, emotions and behavior, "I-messages", etc. Friendly communication in a safe circle of like-minded people became important for everyone, where women had the opportunity to share their emotions, states and experiences, hear the experiences of others and be heard.

One of the meetings was held at the invitation of a graduate of the GIIM master's degree program "Secondary Education (History). Psychology", Archimandrite Dionysius (Vasiliev), a priest of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, head of the military chaplaincy service of one of the military brigades participating in hostilities, a military chaplain and psychologist. Father Dionysius shared with the participants information from his own practical experience about the peculiarities of the psycho-emotional states of the military and their communication and relationships with the family; about the difficulties that may arise and their causes; he introduced those present to the healing possibilities of biosuggestive therapy, and provided valuable and meaningful answers to the participants' questions.

At the end of the meetings, the group participants noted a significant improvement in their own psycho-emotional state, increased resilience, and the level of awareness of important issues regarding communication and psychological support for themselves and their soldiers. We plan to continue the work of support groups for wives and mothers of military personnel in the future within the framework of the activities of the Center for Psychological Resilience of the GIIM.

*The Center for Psychological Resilience of the Horlivka Institute of Foreign Languages (Dnipro) operates with the support of the Erasmus+ Project “Boosting University Psychological Resilience and Wellbeing in (Post-) War Ukrainian Nation”